The holy fire of the Beijing Olympics to be held in February next year arrived in China from Greece, and a ceremony was held in Beijing.
The torch relay will be scaled down to prevent infection with the new coronavirus, and will be held only for the three days immediately before the competition.
The Beijing Olympic torch, which was lit in Olympia in southern Greece, arrived in China on the morning of the 20th.
At the ceremony, Beijing's top secretary, Cai Qi, received the torch and set the torch on fire.
The torch will be exhibited at the Olympic Tower in Beijing for the time being, and will be shown at related events and other events held in areas where winter sports are popular throughout China from December.
On the other hand, the organizing committee of the Games announced that the scale of the torch relay will be reduced to prevent infection with the new coronavirus, and that it will be held only for three days from February 2nd to 4th next year, just before the opening.
It will be held only in Beijing, where the competition venue is located, and in the adjacent Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, without traveling all over the country, and about 1,200 runners will participate.
The Organizing Committee explains, "We have shortened routes and periods and reduced the number of participants by giving top priority to the health and safety of citizens."